[Preface: I REALLY tried finding this on gamefaqs.com, but trying to find it in a walkthrough is impossible.]

I've haven't spent too much time playing this, and I decided I was sick of not having any weapons so I thought I would just spray all of the gang tags (thank you, Brady guide) so there would always be some at the Johnson house. I was in the Pershing Square neighborhood, and I jumped a wall and all of a sudden I had a THREE-STAR wanted level! WTF? Anyone know why that happened?

(Plus, I'd just done about a dozen tags and was going to do ONE MORE and save it, as I would've finished 75/100. Of course I hopped into a car and hauled ass to the Johnson house to try to save the game, but when I got out of the car the stupid cruisers slammed into the car, BLOCKING THE DOOR TO THE HOUSE. ARGH! Of course, I was quickly wasted.)*

“To get ass, you’ve got to bring ass." -- Roy Jones Jr.

"Your input has been noted.I hope you don't take it personally if I disregard it." -- Guru Zim

I'm pretty sure the the Los Santos police HQ is in Pershing Sqaure, so I'm guessing the other side of that wall was LSPD property. Other than that, I can't think of anything that would get you an instant 3 star wanted level.

Actually, now that you mention it, I jumped over the wall onto the street (or sidewalk) so I would have already been on LSPD property, though I don't remember seeing any more cruisers than usual. Maybe they thought I was escaping from jail or something.

You only get the wanted level if somebody sees you on the property. There's a cop in a booth, I believe (if I'm remembering the setup correctly), and you can sneak up and kill him, and be safe. But as soon as he sees you, the wanted level shoots up. It's a pain, yes, especially when your car accidently lands on the other side of the fence while chasing somebody in another mission.

Well, I know there are plenty of places you can go that will give you an automatic four- or five-star wanted level. If you haven't unlocked anything beyond Los Santos, for example, I wouldn't recommend trying to swim to Las Venturas.

There's a naval base in San Fierro, near the import/export ship, that will give you an immediate four-star wanted level if you get anywhere near it. Approach it in a plane and they'll shoot you down with a surface-to-air missile.

Ditto the "restricted area" to the west of Las Venturas. Only I think you get a five-star wanted level in that instance.

“You have the look of a man who believes what he sees because he is expecting to wake up. Ironically, this is not far from the truth.”--Morpheus, The Matrix

The secret to that is to have a non-firearm in your hand when you pick up the weapon. (like the purple "mystery weapon") And DON'T accidently cycle through your weapons inventory, or you'll get good use out of the shotgun that you pick up.